Streptomycin is an antibiotic substance discovered by Schatz, Bugie and Waksman, in their search for an antibacterial agent effective against gram-negative bacilli. It was first reported by them in January 1944.1 Feldman and Hinshaw2 proved by extensive experiments on animals that the drug exerts a profound inhibitory and healing action on well established experimental tuberculosis in the highly susceptible guinea pig.
The drug was first used in the treatment of clinical tuberculosis in the fall of 1944 by Hinshaw and Feldman3 at Rochester, Minn. A little later its use was begun at Mineral Springs Sanatorium, Cannon Falls, Minn.
These early clinical investigations indicated that streptomycin had a favorable effect on certain forms of pulmonary tuberculosis in human beings. Further clinical studies4 showed it to be the treatment of choice in such forms of the disease as miliary tuberculosis, tuberculous meningitis, ulcerative tracheobronchial tuberculosis, tuberculous laryngitis, draining